Enewsletter

Enewsletter • December 19, 2002

More from Dale Carnegie's How to
Win Friends and Influence People:

J.P. Morgan observed that a person usually has
two reasons for doing something: one that sounds good, and the real one.
The person will know the real reason. You don't need to emphasize
that. But all of us, being idealists at heart, like to think we are being
driven by motives that sound good. So, in order to change people's minds,
appeal to their nobler motives.

News

Update on the New
Why Vegans!!

By the time you read this, we should have received the copies of the new
Why Vegan here at the office,
and will have started filling
the backorders for quantities
fewer than 300. Remember, you can order copies of Why Vegan, and any other
matieral, from our catalog.

Just to repeat: thanks to everyone who made this
possible; together, we can make the new year the best ever for the
animals.

Previously,
we mentioned the publications of stories resulting from a serious, nine-month
investigation of factory farms by the Dayton Daily News. These stories
give great insight into the industry. You can view all the articles here.

"New U.S. pollution rules
announced on Monday will do little to control "factory farm" manure
runoff fouling the nation's
waters, environmental groups said.

"'It's a sweet deal for factory-farm polluters but it stinks for the
rest of us,' said Melanie Shepherdson of the Natural Resources Defense
Council, which sued in 1989 for feedlot rules. She said livestock producers
were being
handed 'a largely self-permitting system that insulates the industry' from
public scrutiny or responsibility."

"You don't have to live on a farm
to care about this. According to two of the studies, these drug-resistant
strains are probably as close as your nearest
supermarket, or even in the package of raw chicken you bought to make tonight's
dinner.

"In a study conducted by Consumers Union, researchers found Campylobacter
in 42 percent of nearly 500 broiler chickens purchased in 25 different cities,
and Salmonella in 12 percent.

"Ninety percent of the Campylobacter strains were resistant to at least one
antibiotic used to treat human illness. So were 34 percent of the Salmonella
strains."

"State education officials and federal regulators knew a year ago that the
breaded chicken tenders blamed for sickening 40 pupils and teachers in Joliet
last month might have been contaminated by an ammonia leak at a storage facility
in St. Louis.

"But after the facility fumigated the food, federal inspectors offered a clean
bill of health and approved shipment to school cafeterias across Illinois."

"Last month, voters in Florida approved a state constitutional amendment prohibiting
the use of sow gestation crates.

"'The Florida initiative demonstrated that urban consumers care about
how animals are raised,' said Chris Bedford, who will coordinator efforts
in Iowa from a Des Moines office.

The Humane Society of the United States, based in Washington, D.C., is perhaps
traditionally best known for promoting animal welfare issues. But according
to some, in recent years it has moved closer to the animal rights agenda. 'We're
opposed to keeping breeding sows in 2-foot cages,' said Wayne
Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society. 'We're not asking
for much. We just want the animals to be able to turn around.'

"'Iowa is critical because it's the largest pig producing state,' Pacelle
said.

"Just two Florida hog producers are affected by that state's new law, and
they have six years to eliminate gestation crates from their production scheme.
The stakes in Iowa are much higher. According to the Iowa Pork Producers Association,
the pork industry has a nearly $12 billion annual economic impact on the state.

"For that reason some give the Humane Society little chance to succeed. They
also argue the organization's logic is flawed.

"Veterinarian Tim Loula represents the Swine Vet Center, a veterinary consulting
practice based in St. Peter, Minn. The group is devoted exclusively to serving
the pork industry.

"'Animal welfare means the animal's basic needs are being fulfilled,'
Loula said. That includes providing an environment free of hunger, thirst,
pain,
injury, disease and stress.

"'Today's modern crated facilities and professional management provide
excellent welfare for the sow,' Loula said, including environmentally
controlled barns, regular assessment of the animal's health and precise drop-feed
and automatic watering systems.

"'From a scientific viewpoint, confinements provide a lot of good in
terms of animal welfare,' Loula said. 'For that reason, I think the
odds would be very slim of a Florida-type measure passing in Iowa.'"

I got one of your pamphlets and was horrified by the
incredible mistreatment these animals suffer. Send us more pamphlets
– we'll pass them out at our shows.RH, Denton, TX, 12/4/02

"Chicken producers have grown so used to seeing birds in
cages with half their feathers missing that they believe it's normal, says
the North American guru on livestock behaviour.

"'It's a case of bad becoming normal,' [says] Temple Grandin.

"Chickens crowded into laying pens or birds without feathers are not normal,
and the situation has to change, Grandin told a group of farmers, students
and industry leaders.

"'I'm very upset with what I saw in the hen house,' said Grandin,
who has toured thousands of ranches, slaughter plants, feedlots and farms over
her 30-year career. The animal welfare specialist helps design better ways
to house, move and slaughter animals.

"'We've got to get things to a minimum decent standard. This has got
to change. This is absolutely totally awful.'

"Grandin got her first taste of chicken farms when she began working with
McDonald's restaurants in 1999 to help assure the restaurant company that meat
and eggs
it uses are humanely raised. What the researcher saw in some chicken barns
was worse than any large animal slaughterhouse she toured.

"'If cattle and pigs looked like these hens, I don't think any rancher
would say that's OK,' said Grandin who insisted changes be made to the
way chickens, especially laying hens, are raised in the United States."

"Vegetarianism can be a vexing lifestyle in a fast-food world. A love affair
with veggies, fruits and grains takes plenty of commitment.

"'I left vegetarianism because it was inconvenient: the shopping and
cooking times needed, calculating protein and other nutrients, working around
the needs
of friends who weren't vegetarian,' says Bob Eskes, 49, a data analyst
from Rochester, N.Y. 'Also, I felt sometimes it was too hard being a vegetarian
around carnivores.'

"A recent best seller, Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation,
ruthlessly exposed the commercial underbelly of America's beef empires. Author
Peter Lovenheim's Portrait of a Burger as a Young Calf follows calves
from cuddly critters to slaughterhouse fodder. Both books jolt readers into
envisioning living animals behind the slab of meat
on their plate.

"Just as significant, a new food pyramid from Harvard Medical School challenges
the beefy priorities that nourished baby boomers. Dr. Walter Willett's recommendations
sharply restrict red meat and limit dairy products to one or two servings a
day. Instead, he advocates large portions of whole grains, fruits and vegetables
– staples of a vegan diet.

"'Dr. Willett's ideas are based on years of study,' says Allyson
Prace, 47, a nutritionist. 'I also focus on fruits, vegetables and whole
grains. But I believe that people can handle eating very lean, small portions
of meat – preferably fatty fish.'"

"Nutritional experts say they are increasingly worried about
iron deficiency among infants. Thousands of infants in the UK have a shortage
of iron in their diet, raising the risk of delayed development or behaviour
problems... Research suggests the problem is the most common nutritional
disorder in the country, with about a quarter of infants not getting enough
iron.

"The main cause is the use of cow's milk in babies under
one year old, coupled with a reduction in red meat consumption and increase
in vegetarianism."

To our knowledge, there is no evidence that an increase in vegetarianism
is causing an increase in iron deficiency among infants in the U.K. The only
evidence we found was for British
toddlers (not infants), and the authors state, "[I]ron
status was not associated with either iron intake or with consumption of
a vegetarian
diet."

Of course, it is important for vegetarian parents
to be aware of iron and other nutritional needs of their infants. Click
here for more information.
- Jack Norris, RD

Feedback

I had been so excited, ever since you emailed me back
saying you where going to be sending me a package of handouts. Well I got
the package about 4 days
ago. As soon it was in hand, I handed all the contents out. So many people
here where very intrested in what Vegan Outreach had to say. I have even
had a couple people come up to me and tell me that they havent consumed
any animal
products since, and that they may never again. I would love to hand out much
more; the University Of Kentucky has 1000's upon 1000's of students and I
would love to reach everyone. I also have two other people working with
me. The first
from Louisville, KY, and the second from Richmond, Va. I am from Nashville,
TN, and all three of us could pass things out in our home towns over winter
break. I am also in a band and we are doing a self funded 20 day tour from
Florida to Detroit, and I would love to pass out things all along that adventure.WS,
Lexington, KY, 12/7/02